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Lewisville Mom Donates Excess Breastmilk To Save Babies

It is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month, and the Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas honors Lewisville mother Kathleen Wilkinson and more than 350 additional breastfeeding moms who have donated their excess breastmilk this year to the Milk Bank, helping families in need.

Kathleen not only provided breastmilk for her own baby, but was also screened to become an approved donor mom for the Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas.

Over the past year, Kathleen has donated her excess breastmilk to the Mothers’ Milk Bank of North Texas. The Milk Bank is a nonprofit organization that accepts, pasteurizes and then dispensed donor human by doctor prescription to critically ill infants in hospital neonatal intensive care units, or those receiving outpatient care.

Kathleen knows first-hand what it feels like to see your baby in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her daughter Ruth was born nine weeks premature, weighing in at 3 pounds and 12 ounces. She stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 47 days. Kathleen later transitioned Ruth to breastfeeding, something that took patience and care. Now at nearly one year old, Ruth is healthy and developing wonderfully.

1) Before breastfeeding, start with “nuzzling” time. Putting your child on your chest allows the baby to get used to the feeling of your breast. My daughter was tiny and felt so fragile on me, but it was nice to have a time when there was no pressure and I could find a position that was comfortable for both of us.

2) Practice Kangaroo care, by placing your diapered baby between your breasts (if you’re the mother) or on your bare chest (if you’re the father), with a blanket draped over your baby’s back. The benefits of the skin-to-skin contact are helpful for both parent and child.

3) Take your own nursing pillow with you. Make sure you are comfortable!

4) Pump your breastmilk on a schedule to ensure that your breastmilk supply is steady. Though it is difficult, continue to follow your schedule even during the night.

5) Practice makes perfect. There will be times when your baby won’t latch on correctly or will not latch on at all. Don’t get discouraged!

6) Once you are home, give your baby a bottle periodically. After two months of breastfeeding I left my daughter with her Grandpa, and we found out the hard way that babies could forget how to take a bottle!

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